Just back from a UKC Rally trial, and the judge was handing information about a Cornell University study of Labs. According to her information:

Cornell College of Vet Med is looking for healthy AKC-registered Labs at least 8 years old to use as controls for genetic mapping studies.

Participants will receive free general physical examination, behavioral assessment, body measurements, CBC and chemistry panel, urinalysis, nutritional consultation, environmental screening for conditions predisposing to cancer as well as oncology, ophthamology, neurology, and cardiology examinations.

The participants must be available to spend at day at the Vet hospital and be certified healthy by their own vet.

For more information about eligibility to participate in this study contact dnabank@cornell.edu.

What do they do with the DNA? Clone my dogs and ask a fortune more than Optigen for them? (Half kidding!)

They only want the healthy dogs, not the ones with known genetic defects. That was the big difference, and not a way of partnering with another study. That way they can look for everything, or clone, or who knows what? I really don't know. It is definitely a different take. Next thing we'd know, they'd be suing us for breeding our own lines, after patenting the DNA of our healthiest dogs and the lines! Or am I misreading the little bit of info we have been given, based on past performance of some researchers to whom we have given DNA in the past?

Mind you, I have spent money to draw blood from Cavaliers with healthy hearts and then shipped it to help Dr. Sleeper try to find the gene for mitral valve disease (MVD) in that breed, as I was lucky enough to have some 9 years old with clear hearts. I am not against helping, but this Cornell study is just so broad, I don't understand it yet. Is there a link?

Hey, folks, studies need normal "controls;" they use the data from the normal dogs to compare with dogs who have genetic diseases. This is a very common methodology. Cornell is a very highly regarded Vet School.

A couple of years ago I volunteered one of my old girls as a normal control for a study of lymphoma at NCSU Vet School. She was the normal match for a 11 year old female Lab with lymphoma. Though I wish I could have cloned her, they were only studying lymphoma.

With all due respect, this is VERY different from a drug effects study with controls, or even a DNA study with a focus. This is a very broad request, and without a link, there is little to go on here, and the sky is the limit for the university, as the law has not caught up with current technology.
Here, and on the Website clickable link, is one view, on human DNA and breast cancer, and the effect that "owning" a patient's DNA has on the patients and researchers.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/02/03/who-owns-your-dna.html

Do you have a link for the Cornell research? That could clear up a lot, or maybe not, depending on Cornell.

No, I'm just passing on information from the Rally judge. You could write and ask the researchers if you have questions. I have no particular investment in the research. I'm about a two day drive from Cornell.

Kate it will Never stop amazing me how much "crape'"
a person can get dumped on them on this site "just trying to be helpful." Thanks for the info, Nancy

Thank you for the information Kate. We will call Cornell to get specifics.

Thanks, Nancy and Traci.

The most painful part about distrust is how it narrows our focus to the worst possibilities of life.

I only hope that folks will find out for themselves whether they want to participate. The study does offer a lot of health screening.

But, do not forget that Cornell has earned our distrust. That is where we were enthusiastically presented with a wonderful new test for PRA. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of breeders sent blood for that test. And money too. The test was no good, but Cornell got the blood they needed to develop an accurate test.

Not arguing whether you are accurate or not. Cornell is a big place. And life is long. But distrust focuses you on only one part, and doing so limits your ability to assess the whole situation and explore options.

Living with distrust is miserable, far more miserable than occasionally being ripped off. I personally don't want the spell of distrust to be cast over my life.

Again, I hope that people will simply explore the option and see if it offers them anything they want. If it doesn't, then by all means avoid it.

I contacted Cornell about offering my 3 dogs as test subjects for their control for umm.. maybe their seizure study. Twice I contacted them and offered and twice I got the reply that the test kits were in the mail and nothing ... nada... no kits ever arrived so I just gave up and figured they didn't want our three healthy dogs in their data base.

Thanks, Kate, for the information. I'm usually a cockeyed optimist. I admit to having a jaundiced view of the world this weekend as two family members fight cancer, the first cancers in our family, and run into some problems with the systems. The funny thing is that I just like to have as many facts as possible, then I am most likely to plunge in anyhow, as I generally like the idea of having genetic tests from which to make more choices as a breeder. I am even considering InGen for a dog that should be clear by parentage--using them is optimistic trust, as was and is using Optigen. Yes, I have been there through the Optigen's stumbling, and I have seen dogs called affected, that turned out to be As, thrown out when the marker test was first out. I still am angry that the PRA test is not cheaper through Optigen, and as somebody said, that they'd rather spend the money on legal maneuvers or legal "nastiness" than in helping more dogs with a more affordable test that they once promised us. They could have driven out Ingen quickly with in market competition/price wars that would have helped the dogs and their own pockets, just not so many attorneys. That background, and the reality of what COULD legally happen to the DNA we submit, colors my view of the current very broad Cornell request. My apologies to the attorneys on this forum and in my family--they need to make a living, too, but some things can be resolved by taking the high road. Maybe Cornell can allay my concerns this coming week. Maybe not.

Charlotte, I'm sorry your family is facing cancer, and I understand from personal experience that cancer can shake your confidence, faith, optimism, and trust. But I can also say that you will never be sorry that you have practiced these skills before cancer struck. They are the foundation of coping and of good human relationships. You will need the skills you have practiced more than ever.

Let us know what you learn from Cornell. Kate

Wrong again. Cornell had nothing to do with PRA Optigen test. Dr Gustave Acquirre was the Vet in charge of that study and development. He was not housed at Cornell nor was Cornell a part of it. He was located in a building about a mile from Cornell and the study was his baby. And I know this because I was at Cornell and they told me at the front desk where I could drive to go downtown and would go by the building Acquirre was in on my way to have lunch as I had a dog undergoing tests at the hospital. And his wife was working there with him. So, get off your little "trash Cornell". You people spit out a lot of crap before you know what the truth is. Anyone who want to challenge me can email me. ellie

The research leading to this discovery was undertaken by scientists at the James A. Baker Institute of Animal Health at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York. Initial data are published in volume 95 of the March, 1998 issue of the Proc. National Academy of Sciences. Publication of the prcd mutation is being prepared. The patented technology underlying this test is under exclusive license to OptiGen from Cornell Research Foundation, Inc.

Ellie,
This isn't personal, or trashing Cornell in general, or trashing Optigen or anything like that. Two of my favorite vets in the world are Cornell grads. It's just my opinion that this request and what can happen in the brave new world is unclear with what little information we have on this forum. Good things AND bad things can happen. I look before I leap, most days. Sometimes that drop is a big one!
Respectfully,
Charlotte

I took a couple dogs up, a couple weeks ago. They did complete physicals, including eyes and doppler. They treat you very well and you can learn a lot. I have another older one going in September.

Thanks, Gail. I wish I were closer. Kate

One of the biggest problems in being distrustful is the way distrust causes you to lump people, problems, and places into big scary categories. Distrust also gets easily stuck in the past. In reality the world is more complex and diversified and constantly changing. We need to take into account all the complexity and diversity to make good decisions.

Cornell Vet College is huge! And the parts of any university can be quite separate.

The Baker Institute is a long standing research facility that is part of Cornell.
http://bakerinstitute.vet.cornell.edu/

The DNA Databank under which this "health screening" (how it is listed on the website) is headed by Dr. Rory Todhunter. Dr. Todhunter has published some of the best genetic research regarding canine hip dysplasia that we have.

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/Research/DNAbank/healthscreening.cfm

I'm not saying that you should participate or not. But don't let your distrust and anger keep you stuck in the past making bad decisions.

Here we go again.